Sunday, February 19, 2012

Tuesdays with Morrie





I spent my Saturday evening reading "Tuesday with Morrie". I highly recommend this book to anyone. The book is a very humane story which entails the last days of a professor and his last lecture - on life.

A quote that I liked a lot is:
"Invest in the human family. Invest in people. Build a little community of those you love and who love you".

I plan on writing about the novel more in-depth in the future but liked to write a little something now about it.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Mitch Albom: A Man with Great Heart


Mitch Albom has an impressive repertoire of talents – from sport writing to writing novels to being proficient in piano.

He has his own website for his fans. The homepage has links that splits to three different aspects of Mitch’s life: His books, philanthropy work, and to his sport blogs. This organizational allows people to discover not only Mitch’s interests, but also who he is as an individual.

I have decided to research more about to Mitch because many things he is interested in I can relate to. I love the fact that his novels strongly revolve around the theme of living life to it’s fullest and having a positive impact on others lives. His dedication to charity work (he founded four different charities in the Detroit, Michigan region where he currently resides) impresses me hugely. He has the amazing opportunity to be able to help  others and is doing so in the fullest. Furthermore, sports is a huge passion of mine so It will be interesting reading his sports blogs, analyzing specific patterns in his journalism.

I plan to read the novel “Tuesdays with Morrie” in order to get a greater grasp of his novelist abilities. Plus, the concept of the book interests me the most. Being able to continue to live life positively and make an impact when staring death in the face.

Two sport blogs of his that I came across and interested me. One, talks of how timeouts in college basketball dulls the action at the end of games (here) and the other discusses how last year even though the Miami Heat lost to the Dallas Maverics in the finals it seems most of the media was focusing on Miami’s inability to win rather than the Maverics great victory (here).

I am excited to research more on Albom. Expect more blog posts about him soon!

Monday, February 13, 2012

Jeremy Lin!

I'm not a huge basketball fan, but what Jeremy Lin has been doing on the New York Knicks is amazing! A lot of the Knicks games are not televised here due to the school not having the MSG network, but watching what he can do in the televised Knicks / Lakers game was exciting to watch. He came out of, what seems like, no where to have one of the best five games starting as a point guard in league history! It'll be interesting how he meshes with Amare, and, especially, Carmello but he should be fun to watch for all Knicks fans for years to come.

Library Observation


Here I am. Chilling in the library. Attempting to procrastinate is becoming a chore. Deep down I know it’s most likely an inevitability in many aspects of schoolwork for me. I’m not a huge fan of the library. Too much going on in my provincial vision going on to get me fully concentrated on the task in front of me. Give me my quiet dorm room to this any day!

Well anyway. The kid to the left of me is biting his pen cap, a habit that I generally participate in when I’m nervous (my pen cap though… not his).  He has something that looks like a scientific textbook plopped on his desk. I’d be biting my pen cap definitely if I was looking at a scientific textbook! I’m trying to avoid taking science courses by any means necessary (saving it for senior year, even then taking the easiest one available).

The girl on my right is twirling her hair. It’s rather distraction. I fear that if she twirls her hair any faster that she’ll fly away. My hair was never long enough to twirl. I could only assume that it’s done by girls because they’re nervous (or trying to act cute for guys). I’m going to go out on a limb here and say its due to whatever she’s typing on her keyboard making her nervous and not me with my sweatpants and hoody acting shady by looking around the library.

Someone walked into one of the group study rooms by himself. He is wearing a suit. This guy thinks he’s too good to sit in the normal area with the common folk! You can take your elitist attitude and enjoy that study room. This guy must think he’s god’s gift, that he has the right…. Oh never mind other people are joining him.

By the corner there are two lovebirds sitting on the couch together. Save room for the Holy Ghost! Just kidding. The guy looks pretty miserable by the expression on his face. Most likely the girl dragged him here.

My friend is joining me in the library, he’s the type of person doesn’t understand the quiet sanctuary that the library provides to many. I constantly find myself having to remind him that this is a library; I hate doing it because I use to be one of those people. It just seems inconsiderate to me to be loud when people come here to escape the noisiness of dorms and such.


Sunday, February 12, 2012

Top 10 Favorite Albums of the 00's: #7


Taking Back Sunday-Tell All Your Friends (2002)



Genre: Alt. Rock, Post-hardcore, Emo
Label: Victory Records
Producer: Sal Villanueva
For those who don’t know, Taking Back Sunday is a band from Long Island who recently re-formed their “original line-up” that they has in their debut album Tell All Your Friends. Released in 2002, Tell All Your Friends still remains a fan favorite. Personally, it is my favorite Taking Back Sunday album. What set the album apart from other’s in their scene of music are the passionate vocals from the lead vocalist Adam Lazarra and backing vocals from John Nolan.  For me, the two vocalist tandem of Adam and Nolan rivals that of the popular Tom Delonge and Mark Hoppus combination in blink-182. They compliment each other perfectly and it really makes it unique. I have yet to hear a duo work so well together in a hardcore band (Underoath comes very close).

            Tell All Your Friends kicks off with the frantic track “You Know How I Do”. The song sets the tone an amazing fast pace of the album perfectly. Adam Lazarra
roars:

“So sick, so sick of being tired
And oh so tired of being sick
We’re both such magnifacent liars
So crush me baby, I’m all ears…”

 the lyrics on this album are really standout. They help make each of the ten tracks on the album memorable. The song also gives you a taste of the back-and-forth vocal delivery of Adam and John, which consists throughout the album:

“We won’t stand for hazy eyes anymore,”

 are sung repeatedly by Adam and John tacking turns to make the chorus of the track. It should be noted here that I am a huge fan of layered lyrics. What I mean by layered lyrics is one vocalist sings one thing, while the other sings something else. When done right it sounds epic. If you’re a fan of this than you are in luck, it’s done throughout the album. The next song in titled “Bike Scene”. The song shows off Adam’s killer vocals with a pretty breakdown sung by John Nolan, accompanied by his sister’s, Michelle Nolan, talented vocals singing in the background. The song then explodes to an emotion closure where Adam and John sings back-and-forth:

 “I didn’t want it to mean that much to me.”           

            Next up is one  of the album’s two stand-out tracks, “Cute without the ‘E’ (Cut from the Team).” The track drips emotion and has impressive lyrics. The song is a tale about a girl who takes advantage of a guy and basically ruins his life. At the breakdown John Nolan sings: 

 “Hoping for the best just hoping nothing happens
A thousand clever lines unread on clever napkins
I will never ask if you don’t ever tell me
I know you well enough to know you never loved me,”

 with Adam singing in the background,

 “Why can’t I feel anything
from anyone other than you?”

 It adds up to one of the most impressive sections of the album. You definitely feel the emotion coming out of both of them. The song ends with Adam singing:

 “I stay wrecked and jealous for this,
for this simple reason
I just need to keep you in mind
as something larger than life!”

 As the song reaches it’s climax right at it’s end. Following up is the song “There’s No “I” in Team” which is a song that responds to the band’s Brand new song “Seventy Times Seven.” Basically it addresses the falling out of John Nolan and Brand New lead vocalist Jesse Lacy. Very cool song with back-and-forth vocals.

             The album rolls on with the beautiful song “Great Romances of the 20th Centenary.” John Nolan sings:
 
 “You always come close but this never comes easy,”

 the line is simple but probably is one that everyone can relates to. The song is always a fun one to listen to. A little later is the song “Timberwolves at New Jersey”. The song sounds really raw and comes across as very genuine. The chorus goes: 

“Literate and stylish (literate and Stylish)
Kissable and quiet (kissable and quiet)
Well that’s what girls dreams are made of…”

 It’s a fun song to sing along to. The other stand-out track, and my personal favorite, is “You’re So Last Summer.” It is a really fun and catchy song. The lyrics are also amazing. The best line off the entire album is:
“the truth, is you could slit my throat
And with my one last gasping breath
I’d apologize for bleeding on your shirt,”
sings Lazarra. The song is about someone who genuinely cares about the girl but it just gets lost in translation along the way. The ending erupts to Adam:
 “If I’m just bad news, then you’re a liar,”

 the song is just amazing. I always find myself listening to it.

 This 34 minutes-or-so album of pure energy and emotion will leave you wanting to listen to it again and again. Some tracks are not the best or sound like they could have been done better (“The Blue Channel” and “Head Club”) but overall it’s amazing. One of, if not the most, energetic album I have ever heard. They have recorded one album since getting together, a self-titled “Taking Back Sunday”.  It is not as memorable as Tell All Your Friends and they’ve moved more towards alt. rock rather than hardcore, but I am hopeful that they are on the threshold of making their best album yet.

Standout tracks:
“You Know How I Do”
“Cute without the ‘E’ (Cut from the Team).”*
“Great Romances of the 20th Centenary.”
“You’re So Last Summer.”*
Listen to it from start to finish.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Top 10 Favorite Albums of the 00's: # 8



Kanye West- Late Registration (2005)

Genre: Hip hop
Label: Roc-a-Fella, Def Jam
Producer: Kanye West, Jon Brion,  ect.

What separates Kanye West from his contemporaries is that he has an incredible drive for being the best.  The best compliment I think an artist can be given is that they’re art has consistent quality. That means, for instance, director / screenwriter Christopher Nolan is gifted enough to write scripts and direct movies that seem to always captivates it’s audience throughout the entire film. Akin to this, Kanye West has the ability to capture a listener’s attention throughout any of the albums in his catalog.

This brings me to Late Registration, which in my opinion was his best album of the last decade (maybe his whole career if he hadn’t released My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in 2010).  The album is filled with excellent beats, witty lines, and variety that make this album a special one. What sets this apart from other albums released by Kanye West is that he teamed up with Jon Brion (a film composer) to make a hip hop album that has a very large sound by using orchestration (something he sort of moved away from with Graduation by making it more electronic but came back to with My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy). Kanye’s sophomore album was certainly not a sophomore slump. He created an album with great artists featured and awesome songs.

The album starts out with an amusing skit by Bernie Mac (R.I.P.) who reprises his role as an “old teacher” like he was in Kanye’s debut album “The College Dropout”.  This rolls into “Heard ‘Em Say”, which features Adam Levine of Maroon 5. Kanye raps about how life is hard and nothing is ever promised:

“And I heard ‘em say, nothin ever promised tomorrow today.”

Adam Levine sounds amazing on the track. It basically uses a snip-it from the Maroon 5 song “Nothing Lasts Forever” which is a beautiful break-up song. It is probably one of my favorite songs by Maroon 5 too. Next up is “Touch The Sky”, featuring and pretty much introducing Lupe Fiasco to the world.  They both sounds great on the track with the background horns beat making it a winner. This goes into the most successful single off the album, “Gold Digger.” This amusing and incredibly catchy song is really fun to listen to. Jamie Fox’s vocals emulating Ray Charles in the background make the track and it’s beat very memorable.

            The album slows down with the song “Drive Slow” (featuring Paul Wall and GLC). Its head bumping beat and amazing flow by all three rappers make this song so great. The song is also really fun to drive around to:

“My cars like the movies my cars like the crib
 

I got more TV’s in here then where I live,”
 raps Kanye West. To sum it up, it’s just a laid-back and fun track to listen to especially when driving. The song “Roses” is dedicated to Kanye West grandmother’s death. It is a very passionate and soulful song. Following is the song “Bring Me Down” (feat. Brandy) where Kanye West addresses his frustration and how human nature is people trying to “bring down” people who are rising up. Brandy’s vocals are very beautiful and the song as a whole has a lot of emotion.

            A little later the song “Diamonds from Sierra Leone (Remix)” (feat. Jay Z) comes on. The song kicks off sampling the James Bond theme song for the movie Diamonds are Forever:

“Diamonds are forever
They won’t leave in the night
I’ve no fear that they might
Desert me,”

hooking the listener in. Both Kanye and Jay Z raps passionately about the “blood diamond” conflicts that occur in Africa. There are many witty lines, such as:

 “I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man
Let me handle my business, damn!”

 Jay Z and Kanye West sound great when they’re on the same track together (“Hate” off of Jay Z’s Blueprint 3 is the exception) and “Watch the Throne” was a great collab album.

            “We Major” (Feat. Nas & Really Doe) comes next. It’s a cool sounding, almost 7 and a half minute, jam and it’s really cool to hear Nas and Kanye West on the same track. The song “Hey Mama” is a passionate ode from Kanye West to his mother. She had a huge impact on his life and music career so one could only imagine what Kanye West felt like when she abruptly died in 2007. It is a very beautiful song. The album closes with “Gone” (Feat. Consequence & Cam’Ron), which is a fun track with a cool beat. It’s kind of a let down compared to the rest of the album though.
Overall, Kanye West accomplished his goal by making a better album than his debut album. From fame (“Touch the Sky”), to drug addiction (“Crack Music” ft. The Game and “Addiction”), to family (“Roses” and “Hey Mama”), to diamond conflict (“Diamonds from Sierra Leone”), to celebration (“Celebration”), the lyrical content is one of the most varied from a hip hop album that I ever heard.  Kanye also uses elements of humor by incorporating 4 skit tracks which combine to make an amusing story regarding college frat life.For all of Kanye West’s flaws he is a genius when it comes to making good music. His latest album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is one of the best albums I have ever heard. Late Registration is an excellent album that has top-notch production and passion.

 Standout Tracks:
“Heard Em’ Say” (ft. Adam Levine)
“Touch the Sky” (ft. Lupe Fiasco)
“Gold Digger” (ft. Jamie Foxx)
“Drive Slow” (ft. Paul Wall and GLC)
“Bring Me Down” (ft. Brady)
“Diamonds from Sierra Leone” (remix ft. Jay Z)
“Hey Mama”

Monday, February 6, 2012

Don't mess with a panda!


This was added on to a blog post by Jason Tate. I enjoyed it haha

Jason Tate: Absolutepunk

Jason Tate is the founder of the music website AbsolutePunk.net. Originating as a site that focused solely on the band blink-182, the site covers all kinds of music from indie-rock to hip hop.

I respect him a lot for creating an excellent music community. Through his site I had discovered some of my favorite bands (Say Anything, The Format, ect.). It has become a favorite website of mine that I seem to go on to multiple times a day.

I believe his blog (Jason Tate's blog) is so entertaining to me because we have similar musical tastes. As stated in a previous blog entry, he'd often gets advanced copies of albums and shares his thoughts on it on his blog. He recently advocated SOPA not passing by writing out against it and changing his websites original design to raise awareness.

Jason has a segment on his site called Thursday Discussion, which he uses as a forum to discuss music. Two recent entries that had an impact on me were The Best Drive-Thru Records Albums  and Favorite albums from 2001-2003 blog posts. The early 2000's was an exciting time for punk/pop rock bands, and both articles highlight this.

For more on Jason Tate, check his profile out on his site here.